Land use change in Maasailand drivers, dynamics and impacts on largeherbivores and agro-pastoralism

Download

Date

Author

Metadata

Abstract

The Maasailand of Kenya and Tanzania supports one of the richest wildlife
populations remaining on Earth. However, over the last century, Maasailand has
experienced land transformation notably through conversion of former rangelands to
croplands. With the anticipated human population increase in East Africa, more
impacts should be envisaged on these rangelands.
This thesis investigates the root causes and underlying drivers of land-use change in
the Maasai-Steppe ecosystems, stemming from historical, socio-cultural, political as
well as the biophysical conditions. To analyse the different drivers of change, an
integrated methodological approach was employed. This included a collation of
historical data and information derived from both gray and published literature,
analysis of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data, field
surveys, workshops, observations, as well as personal communications.
Observed land-use change from savannah rangelands to expansive croplands are
mainly linked to government policies, land tenure, human population growth (which
is also likely to be the largest future driver) and climatic conditions. Consequently
these changes have impacted the agro-pastoralist community, whose main incomes
for their livelihoods depend on pastoralism. Subsequent loss of formerly communal
grazing lands to establish protected areas; large-scale farming and/or private ranches
have aggravated the problems of sedentarization due to villagization and
privatization policies of the formally mobile agro-pastoral communities.
Land-use change also had negative impacts on migratory wildlife species,
particularly those utilizing both protected areas and dispersal ranges in communal
and/or private lands. The impacts ranged from loss of their migratory routes and
corridors to massive declines of populations due to the loss of access to grazing
resources. The study recommends government’s interventions for keeping the land
open for access to grazing resources as well as opening up wildlife corridors, where
it is deemed necessary for national interests.